Fluorescent material and method of making the same

ABSTRACT

A fluorescent material is formed of two sets of fibers, one set being receptive to standard dyes and the second set being receptive to fluorescent dyes. The material thus formed has a standard color under normal light, and a pleasing fluorescent color under UV light. The two colors can be very different. The fibers are preferably colored using a cross-dyeing process after they are formed into the material. The material can be knit or woven.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] a. Field of Invention

[0002] This invention pertains to a material that has a standard colorunder a normal light and a fluorescent color under a UV light. Thematerial is formed of two kinds of fiber; fibers receptive to standarddyes and fibers receptive to fluorescent dyes. Preferably, the fibersform either yarns or yarn components.

[0003] b. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Most materials when viewed under a UV light have either the samecolor, or a somewhat muted color when compared to how they look undernormal light. However, certain materials can change color or, moreappropriately, appear to have a different, more vibrant color whenexposed to UV light then under normal illumination. For example, whitedress shirts acquire a vibrant, fluorescent bluish color under a UVlight. In many instances this effect is esthetically pleasing anddesirable. Manufacturers of cleaning products, such as laundrydetergents, are very aware of this phenomena and they add specificsubstances in their products to emphasize this effect.

[0005] These materials can be said to have two colors: a normal and afluorescent color. (The term ‘fluorescent’ color is used herein to referto the color of a material when illuminated by UV light). Of course, asdiscussed above, not all materials exhibit this characteristic, andtherefore a material may have at most one standard and one correspondingfluorescent color, thereby severely limiting the number of color choicesfor a fabric.

OBJECTIVES AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] In view of the above, an objective of the present invention is toprovide a material having a standard and a fluorescent color whereineach color is selectable by the manufacturer.

[0007] A further objective is to provide a material with a selectablefluorescent color that is readily made using standard manufacturingtechniques.

[0008] Yet a further objective is to provide a fluorescent material thatcan be made inexpensively.

[0009] Other objectives and advantages of the invention are described inthe following description.

[0010] Generally speaking, a fluorescent material is disclosed that isformed into a fabric from two sets of fibers, one set being receptive tostandard dyes and the second set of fibers being receptive tofluorescent dyes. Each set of fibers is dyed to one of the respectivecolors, either before, or after being formed into the material. Each setof fibers forms a respective set of yarns. Alternatively, fibers fromeach set are intimately blended into yarns to form yarn sets.

[0011] In another aspect of the invention, a material is made inaccordance with the present invention from a yarn system wherein, in oneembodiment, the yarn system includes two different yarns, the yarnshaving different composition, and/or other physical characteristics,such as fiber count. The material may be formed from the two yarns byweaving, knitting, or any other form, and is structured and arranged sothat one of the yarns primarily determines the normal color of thefabric while the second yarn primarily determines the fluorescent colorof the material. In a somewhat preferred embodiment, a single yarn isused to form the material, with the yarn being formed of two yarncomponents that are intimately blended.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] A material constructed in accordance with this invention, iswoven, knitted or prepared by other means from a yarn system usingstandard techniques for making fabrics. The yarn systems consist ofyarns, with at least some, or all of the yarns being formed of at leasta first and a second yarn component. The first yarn component is formedof fibers that can be dyed with (or receptive to) a standard color. Thefirst yarn component may be of cotton fibers; cotton blended with anatural or artificial fiber; or other fibers such as polyester, nylon,rayon and so on. The second yarn component is made of fibers that can bedyed with (or receptive to) a fluorescent color. This second componentmay be made of polyester, nylon, acrylic, cotton or other similarnatural and artificial fibers. The two types of fibers are intimatelyblended to form a composite yarn in which the two types of yarn fibersare difficult to distinguish, at least visually. It was found that theratio of the first to the second fibers by weight could be anywhere from50/50 to 80/20. In an alternate embodiment, the yarn systems include atleast two different yarns, each yarn having the characteristics of oneof the yarn components described above. The yarns can have any size,such as 20/1, 40/1 etc. The following table illustrates some of theyarns have been used, it being understood that other types of yarns canbe used as well. Fabric Designation Yarn size Yarn composition Spun typeBlend A 20/1 60% cot-40% poly open-end intimate B 18/1 60% cot-40% polyopen-end Intimate C 40/1 60% cot-40% poly ring intimate D 22/1 60%cot-40% poly ring intimate E ┌ 30/1   100% cot ring ┐ separate └ 30/1  100% poly airjet ┘ knitted feeds F 2/70/68/72 50% ny-50% poly Continuoustextured Commingle filament

[0013] Once the material is formed, it is then cross-dyed so that itobtains predetermined color characteristics. That is, various dyes areapplied to the material either sequentially or simultaneously so thatthe first fibers become a first color and the second fibers become asecond color. The first and second colors are similar but necessarilyidentical to the standard and fluorescent colors as illustrated below.Techniques of cross-dyeing are well known in the art.

[0014] After the dyeing of the material is completed, the material maybe used to form various articles, such as garments or other articles ofapparel, including sportswear, outwear, intimate apparel, active wear,swimwear, workwear(uniforms), children's wear, sleepwear, loungewear,footwear, scarves, kerchiefs, neckties, buttons, ribbons, belts,stockings, etc. Other articles include household articles such asfurnishings, upholstery, rugs, carpets, etc.

[0015] In an alternate embodiment, the material is woven or knit into afabric composed of two types of fibers as discussed above, the fabricsewn or otherwise shaped into an article, and the article is thencross-dyed, as described above.

[0016] The following are some examples of implementing the subjectinvention. In all these examples, yarn component 1 is made of cotton andyarn component 2 is made of polyester intimately mixed at a ratio of60/40. Yarn 1 Yarn 2 Standard Fluorescent Example # Color Color ColorColor 1 Purple Green Brown Green 2 Royal blue Green/yellow Blue Green 3Red Pink Red Salmon 4 Gray Pink Pastel pink Bright salmon 5 Green YellowSeaweed Bright yellow 6 Orange Yellow Tangerine Bright orange

[0017] As can be seen from these examples, the color of the first yarnis similar but not necessarily the same as the standard color and thecolor of the second yarn is similar but not necessarily the same as thefluorescent color. That is because in some cases the material colorsresult from the color of both yarns. More specifically, in example 1 thestandard color-brown is the result of the first yarn being purple andthe second yarn being green. On the other hand, in some instances thestandard color may be substantially identical to the color of the firstyarn, while the fluorescent color may be identical to the second yarn.More particularly in example 3 the second yarn-pink was virtuallyinvisible and this did not substantially affect the standard color.Thus, in general, the first color primarily determines the standardcolor and the second color or primarily determines the fluorescentcolor.

[0018] In the embodiments described so far, the material is described ashaving a fluorescent color under a UV light and a standard colorotherwise. However, the second yarn component (or second yarn) may bemade of fibers that remain fluorescent for a relatively long time periodeven after the material is removed from the UV light.

[0019] While the invention has been described with reference to severalparticular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodimentsare merely illustrative of the principles of the invention. Accordingly,the embodiments described in particular should be considered asexemplary, not limiting, with respect to the following claims.

I claim:
 1. A method of making a material having a standard color whenexposed to normal light and a fluorescent color when exposed to UVlight, comprising: forming said material from a first and a second setof fibers, said first set of fibers being receptive to standard dyes andsaid second set of fibers being receptive to fluorescent dyes; andapplying a respective dye to said material to cause one of said set offibers to be dyed.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step ofapplying includes applying a first dye to said first set of fibers and asecond dye to said second set of fibers.
 3. The method of claim 1wherein said first and second set of fibers form respective first andsecond yarns.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said first and second setof fibers form yarn components that are intimately blended to form yarnsets.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein said material is woven from saidfibers.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein said material is knitted fromsaid fibers.
 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising forming saidmaterial into a utility article.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein saidmaterial is formed into an apparel.
 9. The method of claim 7 whereinsaid material is formed into a household article.
 10. A method offorming a fluorescent material comprising: providing a first set offibers receptive of standard dyes and a second set of fibers receptiveof fluorescent dyes; and forming said sets of fibers into saidfluorescent material, wherein said fluorescent material has a standardcolor under normal light and a fluorescent color under UV light.
 11. Themethod of claim 10 further comprising dyeing said fibers with respectivedyes.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein said fibers are dyed beforebeing formed into said material.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein saidfibers are dyed after being formed into said material.
 14. The method ofclaim 13 wherein said fibers are cross-dyed.
 15. The method of claim 10wherein said sets of fibers form respective yarn sets.
 16. The method ofclaim 10 wherein said sets of fibers are intimately blended to form yarncomponents.
 17. A fluorescent material comprising: a first set of fibershaving a first color and a second set of fibers having a second color,said second color being fluorescent when said material is exposed to UVlight; wherein said material has a standard color when exposed to normallight and a fluorescent color when exposed to UV light, said standardcolor being related at least to said first color, and said fluorescentcolor being related to said second color.
 18. The fluorescent materialof claim 17 wherein said standard color is substantially the same assaid first color.
 19. The fluorescent material of claim 17 wherein saidfluorescent color is substantially the same as said second color.